Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Section; Senior Housing; Emergency Power Generator. Amend RSA 161-M by inserting after section 4 the following new section:

161-M:4-a Emergency Power Generator. Any facility as defined in RSA 161-M:2 which receives any state, county, or federal funding for services to its residents shall install and maintain at least one emergency power generator capable of providing a minimum of 48 hours of sufficient electrical power to a designated and accessible common area in the facility for use in heating, cooling, water, lighting, communications, mobility equipment, and medical equipment.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

This bill requires that senior housing receiving public funding be equipped with emergency power generator service in a common area. The Department of Health and Human Services states the bill will have no impact on Department revenue or expenditures.

Because of its location in RSA 161, which references penalties found in RSA 358-A:6, this bill contains penalties that may have an impact on the New Hampshire judicial and correctional systems. There is no method to determine how many charges would be brought as a result of the changes contained in this bill to determine the fiscal impact on expenditures. However, the entities impacted have provided the potential costs associated with these penalties below.

Judicial Branch

FY 2020

FY 2021

Violation Level Offense

$51

$52

Class B Misdemeanor

$53

$54

Class A Misdemeanor

$76

$77

Routine Criminal Felony Case

$481

$486

Appeals

Varies

Varies

It should be noted that average case cost estimates for FY 2020 and FY 2021 are based on data that is more than ten years old and does not reflect changes to the courts over that same period of time or the impact these changes may have on processing the various case types. An unspecified misdemeanor can be either class A or class B, with the presumption being a class B misdemeanor.

Judicial Council

Public Defender Program

Has contract with State to provide services.

Has contract with State to provide services.

Contract Attorney – Felony

$825/Case

$825/Case

Contract Attorney – Misdemeanor

$300/Case

$300/Case

Assigned Counsel – Felony

$60/Hour up to $4,100

$60/Hour up to $4,100

Assigned Counsel – Misdemeanor

$60/Hour up to $1,400

$60/Hour up to $1,400

It should be noted that a person needs to be found indigent and have the potential of being incarcerated to be eligible for indigent defense services. The majority of indigent cases (approximately 85%) are handled by the public defender program, with the remaining cases going to contract attorneys (14%) or assigned counsel (1%).

Department of Corrections

FY 2018 Average Cost of Incarcerating an Individual

$40,615

$40,615

FY 2018 Annual Marginal Cost of a General Population Inmate

$4,620

$4,620

FY 2018 Average Cost of Supervising an Individual on Parole/Probation

$571

$571

NH Association of Counties

County Prosecution Costs

Indeterminable

Indeterminable

Estimated Average Daily Cost of Incarcerating an Individual

$105 to $120

$105 to $120

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Department of Health and Human Services, Judicial Branch, Judicial Council, Department of Corrections, and New Hampshire Association of Counties